


Hot Buttered Rum

by sublimeWaves



Series: EXO Challenges [16]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Cake, Florists, Love Triangles, M/M, Misunderstandings, Wedding Planning, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2017-10-02
Packaged: 2019-01-07 22:20:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 20,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12241743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sublimeWaves/pseuds/sublimeWaves
Summary: A wedding coordinator and a florist try to woo an Instagram famous pâtissier together, but not that kind of together.





	1. Prologue: The Florist

**Prologue: The Florist**

Sweat drops down Jongdae’s face as he lifts the vase, filled with an enormous bouquet, onto the table.  He’s in a sour mood because the bouquet is made of vegetable sheep which had to be special ordered because no one keeps a large stock of this plant.  Especially florists who specialize in weddings like Jongdae.  He had to send Chanyeol to a special nursery that is three hours away just so that they could get enough for this event.

What is even worse is that vegetable sheep aren’t even tropical!  They look ridiculous at this wedding.  They are meant to look beautiful but it just looks wrong as they surround the hot pink dyed marigolds that are sticking out of the tackiest vases Baekhyun could find.  This tropical themed wedding was one of the worst Jongdae had seen in quite some time and he has seen some _ugly_ wedding themes.  At least the badly colored marigolds matched not only the table cloths but also the chairs and the walls.

He looks up from the bouquet that he cannot believe he had to style and finds Baekhyun on the phone with the caterer.  He’s chewing on his left bottom lip so something must not be going right.  He listens for a second before his loud voice is demanding where the other half of the food for the event is before Jongdae is closing his eyes in frustration for his best friend.  Baekhyun was going to get a coronary with how much stress these ‘happy couples’ were putting on him.

Baekhyun looks elegant in his suit, not a hair out of place.  The florist has never liked to see the other put together like this, especially when his hair is slicked back.  It makes him want to go mess it up so that the other could smile like he means it.  He looks so professional and not anything like the slob he is when he is at home.  Jongdae has lived with him a bit too long and sometimes forgets how sharp the other looks when he leaves the house for his job.

The two were always in close proximity since not only were they roommates but they frequently worked together.  Both held successful jobs, Jongdae as a florist and owner of a flower shop and Baekhyun a high profile wedding coordinator, but they were also best friends, so it made some of the jobs more easier knowing that Jongdae had someone to lean on when things got hectic or at least had someone who understood what it was like to work in the world of weddings.  Baekhyun catches Jongdae eyes while he listens to the pleading caterer as he dramatically rolls his eyes, causing the latter to laugh.  Sometimes, Jongdae doesn’t know what he would do without him.

Looking at his watch, Jongdae is glad that his part is almost over for this wedding.  The ceremony is set to be over within the hour and it is looking like all the flowers have been set up and the only thing left for the reception would be for the rest of the food to show up and the cake that Jongdae assumes will arrive at any minute. 

His bones ache after doing physical labor for so long.  Earlier, he had spent hours in the garden where the ceremony is being held to make it look like a carpet of vegetable sheep was everywhere.  It had worn him out while listening to his assistant, Chanyeol, complain the whole time about the heat.

Leaving the reception room, he opens the back of his work truck to find the last flower arrangement that he needs to place for this wedding.  He hears the sound of another truck opening next to his and he looks beside him to find the cake has arrived as it sits on the back of the vehicle. 

Just like the rest of the wedding, its gaudy.  It has four tiers wrapped in pink fondant with large light green monogramed letters, presumably the couple’s initials.  The cake is obviously well made, but it is still hideous.  The only thing that Jongdae likes are the hot pink marigolds and hibiscus that are elegantly made that and artfully spread across its layers.

As he admires the creation, he sees what looks like a young boy step towards the cake and notices that there is a cart on the truck situated next to the cake.  The young boy has one of those beanie hats on and long sleeves even though it is hot outside.  He goes to get the cart out from the truck and Jongdae is about to open his mouth to assist, but he stops short.

The boy stretches forward, waist stopped by the edge of the van as he grabs the cart.  Straining, his shirt rides up to show a bit of toned abs before he is easily lifting the cart and bringing it to the ground.  When he looks up, Jongdae realizes that the boy is not a boy at all and must be in his late teens.  His face is striking and Jongdae is a bit mesmerized by it.

When the man goes to lift the heavy cake by himself, Jongdae finally opens his mouth.  Cakes weigh a ton and cannot be lifted by a such a small figure.  The florist doesn’t want to brag, but his lifting of flower vases and his gym time has bulked him up quite a bit and he is sure the beautiful man could use his help, even if he might be a bit too young for him.  “Do you need any help?”

A pair of widened brown eyes turn to him.  Now, Jongdae is confused because he looks like his age has regressed by five years when he is startled.  Calming down after the small shock, he flashes Jongdae a smile. The florist feels something warm in his chest.  “I’m good, but thank you.”

Surprised, Jongdae stands back as the man bends his knees in perfect form before lifting the large cake and turning it to put it on the cart.  The form almost makes Jongdae drool as he watches the man as he closes the door of the truck and wheels the cart towards the reception hall.

Bringing the last vase in, Jongdae puts it down next to the DJ station and looks up to find Chanyeol trying to fluff up the flowers on the other side of the station.  It looks like he is about to take the heads off the marigolds so he swats his assistant’s hands.  Usually, Chanyeol is so good with all the flowers.  When he is forced to look up at the tall man’s eyes, he realizes that his attention was not on the flowers but Jongin’s ass across the reception area.

“Pay attention,” he scolds his assistant who has the audacity to not even look embarrassed after being caught in such a position.  He realizes that the two of them are practically done for the day when he finds the cake in the corner of the reception, proudly displayed on a decorated table of tchotchkes.  Casually, he makes his way to the vases of flowers next to the table.

Fluffing up the flowers, the only person next to the cake is a tall beautiful young man with pink hair that Jongdae knows is named Sehun and is always on his phone.  He has seen this man at many weddings and he assumes is the baker.  As Jongdae keeps getting older, these youngins keep looking younger and Sehun looks like a baby.  Minding his own business and pretending to work, he scans the reception area and finds the teen from before talking to Baekhyun.

After a small conversation with Baekhyun where the boy smiles at least four times, he heads over to the cake table and takes a second to speak to Sehun.  “We’re good to go.  Baekhyun is going to take care of everything else.  Not that you did anything.”

The tall man, which may be a teenager by the way he rolls his eyes, sighs.  “I told you I was stuck in traffic.”

“Yet, there was no traffic when I drove here,” the small man teases.

“Fine, I woke up late,” Sehun says before he looks down at the other man who must be his coworker.  The smaller is looking at him expectantly, like he does not believe the man’s story.  Sehun’s face falls in defeat.  “I was at my boyfriends.”

“I know,” the boyfriend says a bit smugly.  “He sent me a picture.”

“Why are you two even friends?” Sehun laments.  Huffing, Sehun pulls out his phone and starts to furiously text on it as he walks towards the reception’s exit.

The other lightly bends over and is scraping a few crumbs of cake off the table when Jongdae decides now is probably the best time to make his move.  “What type of cake is it?

“Lime with a raspberry filling and peanut butter icing,” the man says and his voice makes him sound a bit older.  Still, Jongdae could not place the age even if his life depended on it.

“That sounds delicious,” Jongdae says automatically.  To be honest, he honestly is a big fan of any type of red berries especially in sweets but, the lime almost makes his lips downturn. He stops it, this man doesn’t need to know that.  “I particularly like your hibiscus flowers.  They look so realistic and your attention to detail is amazing.  You can even make out the veins even on the smaller ones.”

“You’re the florist, right?”  The man asks as he fully turns to the other.  His hair and hat obscure a part of his face but he has such sharp features that Jongdae thinks it is safe to assume that he is gorgeous.  There’s a light blush over taking his cheeks that Jongdae thinks is cute.  “That means a lot to me.  Thank you.  I would have tried to match the decorations with the bouquets but the bride insisted on the morning glories even though there are none to be found here.”

“Sounds like a bride,” Jongdae jokes and the man smiles at him.  “I tried to talk her out of them as well.  I might be biased towards morning glories since I was born in September, I should have pushed harder seeing them so out of place here.  By the way, I’m Jongdae, owner of Bonsai Flower Arrangements.”

“Minseok,” the man says as he pulls back the sleeve of his shirt just a bit to reveal a watch.  He puts the same hand out so that they can shake hands.  “You have a strong grip, do you work out?”

“Just vases,” Jongdae responds before he laughs.  “I should be asking you since you lifted that cake all by yourself.”

“It isn’t that big of deal,” Minseok says as he steps to one of the medium size vases next to the cake table.  He picks it up with ease and lifts an eyebrow at Jongdae.

“Not that one,” Jongdae says sheepishly, before he realizes there is a teasing smile on the other face.  The man looks back at his watch.

“I have another appointment I need to get to,” Minseok says as he turns to the exit.  “It was nice to meet you.”

“You too and good luck,” Jongdae says as he watches the other hastily make his way out the door with his assistant.  He takes a breath before realizing that Chanyeol has decided to go talk to Jongin.  Making himself Jongin’s savior, he thinks it time to gather up Chanyeol and head out.

That night he has Baekhyun sitting next to them as they eat fried rice that Jongdae has made.  Baekhyun is in much more comfortable clothing with his suit of sweat pants and an old shirt that has seen better days on.  He has bitched about the wedding for the past hour which Jongdae has frequently dealt with. 

This wedding is particularly bad as a part of the groom’s family was allergic to peanut butter and the cake had made most of them sick since it was fondant and did not look or smell like peanut butter.  The groom had apparently known this and yet did not inform Baekhyun that half of his family would fall ill, citing: ‘It is such a small amount I didn’t think anyone would notice.  You need to eat a lot of something you’re allergic of to _actually_ make you sick, right?’

Then again, the groom was a pushover.  When talking to Jongdae at his shop about what flowers were available, before torturing him with vegetable sheep and disgustingly died marigolds, the groom had suggested that they use peonies.  The bride had said that they were ugly and he hadn’t talked for the rest of the long, tiring visit.

Jongdae laughs at the stupidity of some people and the ridiculousness of others.  It is why he always listens to Baekhyun’s stories about his work.  His clients had a lot of money and were usually upper class socialites who were fit to be on TV for all of their antics and requests.  Yet, as a wedding coordinator, Baekhyun had to power through it with a smile.  Jongdae admired that a lot about his best friend, among other things.

“So, I really liked the cake today,” Jongdae casually tries to say.

“That horrific eye sore?”  Baekhyun questions, turning his head with a look of disgust on his face.  “Who are you?”

“I liked the flower work,” Jongdae defends, realizing he had misspoken.  No one with eyes could say that the cake was all around beautiful.  He was glad he wasn’t a guest at the wedding so his opinion didn’t really matter.  “They were nicely made.”

“They always do really great work,” Baekhyun comments as he goes to stuff his face with more rice.  “You should know, you’ve seen them.  They have a really unique taste testing area so all my clients gush over the experience.”

“Is the guy who comes in the baker?”

Slowly turning his head, Baekhyun shakes his head a bit to get his blonde bangs away from his face as he looks to his best friend.  “Do you mean Sehun?”

“Sure,” Jongdae says.  Baekhyun wasn’t known for his subtlety but Jongdae was not that far behind.  It was worst because they are best friends and are kind of in tune to how to the other thinks and their wants.  Jongdae bet he had about half a minute before Baekhyun would realize something is up.

A small smile appears on Baekhyun’s face and he knocks his shoulder into Jongdae’s.  “He’s pretty cute, huh?”

“Yeah, but I think he has a boyfriend,” Jongdae muses.  Not even half a minute.  He thinks up an excuse to keep the topic going.  “My shop’s anniversary is coming up, they do really nice flowers.  I was talking to Sehun’s assistant about them.”

This news seems to perk his best friend up, a small giggle escapes his lips.  “Sehun is the one who is in training.  Minseok is the one who is the pâtissier.”

“He just looks so small and young like a child,” Jongdae tries to defend himself.  This causes Baekhyun to laugh, shoulders shaking as he leans over into Jongdae’s space to lean into his side to steady himself.  The two of them are known for their constant touching of each other and others.  Chanyeol had once told him that Baekhyun and Jongdae worked as roommates because they were both koalas and now they could hang off each other.

It takes a minute for Baekhyun to recover, but he does so that he can stop leaving Jongdae in the dark about what was just so hilarious.  “Minseok is two years older than us and Sehun is two years younger.  I can’t believe you thought he was a child.  Really, Dae?”

“He looks like a child,” Jongdae repeats calmly in response to  
Baekhyun’s brashness, but his insides are anything but calm.  The fact that this gorgeous man who was also funny was in his viable age range was making him a bit excited.  “Do they have a store front?”

“No,” Baekhyun answers.  “He’s at a space with two other bakers but they each have different companies.  Do you want me to set up an appointment for you?”

“I’d like that,” Jongdae says, trying to push his eagerness down.  He cannot help himself and asks, “Is he there at the taste testing?”

His best friend looks at him a bit skeptically at the weird question.  “He _is_ the only baker so yes.”

Jongdae smiles.


	2. The Coordinator

**The Coordinator**

On the day of the taste test, Baekhyun is unable to accompany his best friend.  A client called about her photographer quitting on her and Baekhyun had to go across town to talk to the photographer instead of taste test Minseok’s delicious cakes.  He feels irritated throughout the encounter with the photographer, whom he has worked with many times before. It is just having a small confrontation with the bride, nothing new.

Baekhyun has known Jongdae for a long time.  They had lived across the hall I freshman dorms back when nobody shut their doors so that they could meet new people and not be lonely little study machines.  They had become fast friends and had remained best friends since.  Jongdae was a business major while also going to a vocational school on the side to get his license to be a florist.  At that point, Baekhyun had no idea what he wanted to be and settled on business because he needed to pick something to keep his scholarship. 

They had supported each other throughout the years ever since.  The blonde was there when Jongdae opened Bonsai Flower Arrangements and Jongdae was there when Baekhyun chucked his useless degree turn to become a wedding coordinator.  Jongdae was also there when Baekhyun’s wedding demographic turned from snotty couples who wanted so much yet did not even have the funds to buy a cake from the local grocery store to snotty couples that could have every inch of surface decked out in 24k gold without a dent in their budget.

Jongdae had sat through it all, helping him out when he needed it and he offered up jokes to cheer him up when everyone had quit and his clients were screaming at everyone and everything.  Not to say that Jongdae didn’t have trouble of his own owning a flower shop.  Baekhyun drove for hours upon hours to a get shipments of rare flowers before.  Once, he had driven overnight because a client needed to support a certain nursery for ‘charity’.  Baekhyun had described his arrival to the scam of a charity as ‘disturbing’, but did receive the flowers and take them back.

Jongin and Chanyeol constantly joked about them being married to each other both separately and together.  Jongdae would just laugh at the comment, but Jongin would take a small hit in the shoulder from Baekhyun.  Baekhyun had finally gotten an assistant and he was finally going to get someone to respect him.  Sometimes, Baekhyun isn’t sure why they hadn’t thought about it either.

They were extremely close, sharing everything with each other.  Baekhyun leaned on Jongdae for everything and vice versa.  So, it really shouldn’t have surprised Baekhyun that Jongdae was also interested in Minseok.  It was inevitable they were going to like the same guy, they also used to share the same celebrity crushes.

It hasn’t come up as a problem before because neither of them had really dated, at least seriously on Baekhyun’s part, since they had met.  They had both been consumed by college and then had all their time trying to take on their demanding careers while maintaining the last few friendships that they had left. 

Jongdae had had a long-term girlfriend in high school that he had left behind so he hadn’t been looking for anything long term his first few years of college.  He was the kind of person who dated to settle down more than a guy who liked flings with no commitment.  That would-be college-aged Baekhyun who was one of the wildest people that had ever graced this earth.  He has since calmed down considerably.  Always the one with someone on his arm, he hasn’t even been interested in anyone in quite some time.

That was until he had met Minseok.  Baekhyun had met Minseok through work.  One of his clients, an affluent socialite with money to burn had insisted on a cake that she had seen on the internet.  It was one of those viral videos that circled around Pinterest.  This particular one was one of those ‘geode’ cakes so it was an elegant three-tiered cake white frosting but on one side of the cake it looked like a rock had been cracked open and gems were hidden inside.  It was an interesting concept.  The one online had amethysts, but the woman was adamant about having _that_ baker make her one with rubies instead of amethyst because rubies were her birthstone and it would bring her good luck.  They had divorced four months later so Baekhyun wasn’t sure it was too lucky for her.

What _was_ lucky was the fact that the baker was in his city and not across the world like any viral star could be.  And he really was a viral star.  After looking at the video, Baekhyun had realized it had amassed over fifty million views and similar numbers could be found for the related videos from the star as well.  Minseok had said his increase in orders was now borderline ridiculous due to the videos, but people enjoyed them and he had apparently accumulated a following.  His creations were modern and envied and most of all, of the highest quality.  Even though they were expensive, it wasn’t like Baekhyun’s clients couldn’t afford thirty of him.

After agreeing to do the first cake, the two had become contacts at work where Baekhyun would regularly call upon him for orders and Minseok would agree.  It was of mutual benefit and their work contact increased.  Baekhyun was lucky to have good relations with a popular baker who did custom orders considering the type of outrageous customers that he gets.  It made his job just a tiny bit easier.  It was even better because his clients were always impressed that he could get the star and word got around in the community that he had special contacts.

There was also the fact that no one was unhappy with Minseok’s work for any reason except for once:

_“Why are my chocolate covered strawberries covered in white chocolate!” A bride had once screamed at Baekhyun._

_“You loved the white chocolate when we were at the taste test.”_

_“I would never like such a disgusting thing!”_

_“You even posted on your Facebook and Twitter about it!”_

_“It must have been hacked!”_

_The customer is not always right._

They had talked to each other on the phone a few times before they met in person.  They met during a taste test that Baekhyun brought his clients to.  Baekhyun liked Minseok right away.  He was cute as greeted all of them with his gummy smile.  Graciously, he had led the team in looking bight.  He had listened to their wants and had already prepared them with a few cake combinations for them to try.  Baekhyun admired how he could be friendly and personable with these horrifically greedy people.  A true professional and nothing made Baekhyun’s heart beat more than that.

That is not to say that he was without faults.  He was shorter and a bit more reserved than what he sounded like on the phone.  Baekhyun had thought his assistant, his very hot assistant, would speak but he never said a word.  But, that was alright.  Baekhyun was involved and therefore there would be no lulls in the conversation.  The two of them got along well and were naturally able to find a rhythm of silence and words that accommodated each other.  The cakes were also some of the best confectionaries he had ever had and found himself licking the spoon when his clients were looking away.  Minseok had smiled at him when he was caught.  Baekhyun had left the taste test with a smile wide across his face and a light feeling in his chest.  It must have been from all the sugar he had consumed.

The feelings in his chest grew with every visit to the point that he almost found himself getting carried away at some of the taste tests.  Finding Sehun raising an eyebrow at him during one of them had grounded Baekhyun so hard that he could almost feel the gravity pulling his heart to the ground. 

The last thing he needed was to alienate someone he worked so closely with and had a great work relationship with.  So, with that, he kept the feelings to himself, not daring to even tell his friends about it and only letting his fantasies live out in his dreams.  He also didn’t need his friends thinking he was ready to go back into the ring and his friends weren’t always the best at love advice and not burning bridges.

In a weakened state, he had stumbled across (read: furiously searched) Minseok’s Instagram which was updated frequently.  The plethora of pictures of his creations went back for at least a few years and didn’t take long to realize that Sehun ran the account and Minseok might not even have seen it.  Sometimes, the head baker had the cutest surprised expression on seeing a camera.  Someone had left a link in the comments and Baekhyun found the treasure trove: his YouTube channel.  Hours upon hours of videos that Baekhyun greedily ingested.

Minseok had revealed early on that the internet fad was not his idea.  Sehun, being the gorgeous taken assistant that he was, would just film when he was baking so that he was just in his element without the pressure of a camera being there.   Minseok hadn’t even realized he was online until a friend of his had contacted him about it.  The videos had millions of views and were almost taken as tutorials.  Minseok had said that finding out he was online was a relief because he had too many order pop out of nowhere to think that business suddenly just picked up.

There was also a small following online for Minseok himself.  The baker was hot and these girls fangirled over him and Baekhyun was right along with them as he consumed their videos talking about how gorgeous he looked.  Baekhyun had to admit that he always did have a major sweet tooth.

He was watching a video once and quickly had to turn it off when Jongdae had sat next to him.  Baekhyun didn’t know why he was keeping Minseok a secret.  Minseok was friendly and nice and pretty much amazing.  Minseok was dedicated to his craft and Baekhyun was married to his job so they got along well and would get along with Jongdae as well.  He found himself losing confidence over this and the fact that the other was famous.  Maybe if Baekhyun was meeting him on the streets and not as an intimidating famous baker that was often requested by his own clients.

There was also the fact that Baekhyun had been out of the dating game so long that sometimes he didn’t know how to reenter it.  It was a thought he had every so often when others brought their significant others around or Chanyeol talked about Jongin.  It greatly worried him if he was being honest with himself.  Not that anyone would no such a thing about him other than himself.  He had too much pride to admit to such a thought.

When he was younger, he always had someone at the tip of his fingertips.  There was a long line of people waiting to get his name and number.  Now, he had grown accustomed to being single and just wasn’t as confident in himself as he used to be. 

He used to be a natural flirt.  What had happened to that?  His focus has been on his careers and his friends that he had somehow forgotten to date along the way.  He didn’t want to even think how long it had been since he has gone home with someone.  Some things were just too depressing to think about.

So, Baekhyun admired him as the days went by, but one day the feeling came back in full force.  They were talking about how sugar melts during weddings held outside during Summer when it happened.  The wedding was going to take place the next day, but Minseok had just dropped off the cake when the bride had come up in a hurry asking that a cake be made for her dogs, something she had not consulted Baekhyun on before this very moment.  Before Baekhyun could say anything, Minseok had graciously smiled and said that he was sure he could figure it out.  The next day had a small cake made of bone treats that looked just as elegant as the wedding cake and Baekhyun had fallen in love.  Anyone could deal with Bridezillas under pressure should be admired.

Jongdae sits in the living room as he browses online on his laptop.  The living room is set up so that the couch is one wall looking at a black wall.  Above the couch, is a shoddy rigged up projector which a laptop or gaming system can be plugged into so that they can watch things on the ‘big’ screen.  It also made it so that they wouldn’t have to cram into each other’s space and inevitably start a fight when trying to share videos.  Jongdae is sprawled on the left side of the couch, feet up on the coffee table in front of them.

Baekhyun is about to ask him how his appointment with Minseok went, when he feels something soft hit him as he sits down on the other side of the couch.  After finding that the offending object was a wrapper, probably the only loose-leaf item Jongdae had near him.  Baekhyun makes sure to look dramatically offended, but Jongdae has him beat with his genuine emotion, cheeks puffed out a bit. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about the Instagram thing.”

“What Instagram thing?”  Baekhyun questions and hopes that he has the most innocent look on his face, but as usual he can see with one look that his best friend does not buy it for a second.

“Minseok has an Instagram.  He’s famous!”  Jongdae says as he motions to his computer, hooking up to the projector so a video of Minseok is on full display for Baekhyun to see.  Not that he needs to see much of it since he knows his one as one of his drip cake videos.  “He told me that you know all about this!”

Trying to keep it casual, Baekhyun shrugs his shoulders while trying to not look at Jongdae and not stare openly at the baker on the big screen.   “I forgot?”

A pillow comes down onto him.   “You forgot the reason that you hire him so much?”

“I had other things on my mind!  Do you know how busy of a person I am?” Baekhyun whines in his defense, picking up the pillow and hitting Jongdae lightly so that the computer does not get harmed.  Pillow still in hand, he takes it and lays it on the other’s shoulder so that he can rest his head.  The other, used to this behavior, doesn’t even try and shove him off.  Before, Baekhyun can stop himself, he finds himself asking, “Why are you so interested?”

“I like flowers,” Jongdae says nonchalantly.  The brunette is focused on his computer screen and scrolling through what looks like a list of links to Minseok’s videos.  The unfocused response would make Baekhyun think that Jongdae just wasn’t listening, but, really, he finds it a bit infuriating that his best friend won’t admit his admiration of the baker.  Even though he is a hypocrite for thinking that.  The other man could read him like a book sometimes so he did the logical thing and did not even talk about Minseok.

Baekhyun nods in response and rocks Jongdae from the motion, jolting his shoulders back and forth.  Jongdae runs through a small group of pictures of gorgeous cakes that Minseok has posted.  “Have you seen much of his work online?”

“A few,” Baekhyun answers, lying through his teeth.  He proves his point by pointing to the cake to the far left which is a rainbow cake wrapped in different colors of spun sugar.  “That was for one of my clients.”

“They’re so beautiful,” Jongdae says as he goes through them.  “I wouldn’t have it at my wedding but I do like it.”

“What if you find someone who wants that?”  Baekhyun asks.

Jongdae leans back, making it so Baekhyun’s pillow is more resting on his chest than his shoulder.  Baekhyun finds this much more comfortable.  His best friend is making a troubled sigh.  “You know how much I don’t like confrontation.”

“It’s why we’re friends.  I make all the decisions and you blindly go through with them.”

Jongdae sits up quickly, making Baekhyun lose balance and fall into the sofa and is slightly being crushed by Jongdae’s thigh.  As the blonde makes sounds of protests as he sits up, he can see the other’s grin forming slightly on his lips.  The two calm down as they watch a small video on frosting as Minseok quickly spins a cake and makes it so smooth it puts Baekhyun’s mind at ease.  The sound is low, not that all of videos even have sound, so they are of little consequence.  There’s only one video where Minseok talks and it is because he is tricked by Sehun into teaching him a basic technique.

After another video, he feels a weight on his shoulders as he realizes his best friend has decided to reverse their earlier positions, except he is still trying to balance a laptop on his knees at the same time.  He’s staring at the screen with a look in his eyes that Baekhyun hasn’t seen in a very long time.  Jongdae’s voice knocks him out of his thoughts.  “He looks so natural.”

“Sehun doesn’t tell him when he is recording.  He apparently gets nervous when put on the spot so Sehun just catches him in his natural environment,” Baekhyun shares as he adjusts his shoulder so Jongdae is forced to move to a more comfortable position for Baekhyun.  “He told me that he gets so involved with his work that he just doesn’t even notice the camera watching him from like a foot away.”

Baekhyun hears Jongdae boisterous laugh as the video ends.  The blonde watches the cursor as it goes through each small description describing each link.  After a few seconds, Baekhyun says, “I like geode cakes” trying for Jongdae to pick the onyx geode cake which he does. 

The screen is met with Minseok mixing a batter with his sleeves pushed all the way up so that his arms are exposed.  This is one of Baekhyun’s favorites.  The way that Jongdae’s mouth seems to be hanging open, he thinks it’s about to become of his favorites as well.

“He’s strong,” Jongdae comments while they watch the muscles move as they mix a batter before softening up when gently pouring it into the cake pans.  “I saw him lift that ugly cake of yours at that tropical wedding a couple weeks back.”

As Baekhyun every time he watches this video, he is a little entranced as the short man has to go on his tiptoes and stretch to stack the cakes which just emphasizes his body even more.  Still he can give a passive answer.  “He works out.”

“Obviously,” Jongdae says as he leans back and Baekhyun knows by his tone that he is rolling his eyes.  The other reaches his hand out to point at the muscles.  “You don’t just get arms like that from standing around and doing nothing!”  Suddenly, the blonde feels the pillow from earlier being lightly slammed into his chest.  “Or else you would have some too.”

“Hey!” Baekhyun squawks before playfully hitting his best friend back before realizing the other was expecting it and dodges it.  He laughs like he is taunting the blonde.  The brunette doesn’t reciprocate, so Baekhyun keeps it up with a verbal attack.  “You keep talking like I am the only one here who has skinny arms.”

This is not true.  Jongdae has nice muscled arms.  Not as nice as Minseok’s, but they are sizable and the brunette has been trying to build them up steadily for the past two years when he has time.  They were quite nice to look at, too.  On the other hand, Baekhyun’s arms are skinnier than he would like because he just can’t seem to find time to go to the gym with his work schedule.  That being said, Jongdae attacked him first so all limits were off according to Baekhyun.  The comment is worth the overly dramatic hand over Jongdae’s mouth as he tries to work down a smile.  “I am leagues better than you.”

Not able to hold it in any longer, Baekhyun lets out a round of laughter, therefore forfeiting the one upping at this time.  The brunette joins him as they lean back into the comfy old couch.  After their laughter has died down and Jongdae picks another video he lightly taps Baekhyun’s shoulder.  “You’re good.”

“Hmm?”

“You’re good,” Jongdae repeats, knocking his fist into his arms lightly.  He would lie if he was saying that it didn’t make him feel a bit warm after hearing the compliment.  Not that he takes them well.

Feeling his cheeks warm, he repeats Jongdae’s knocking on his arm as well.  “You have too many chicken wings.”

“Hey,” the brunette lazily protests as he rolls his head towards Baekhyun.  “I’m trying to be nice.”

“I know,” Baekhyun says as he pulls his best friend’s arm to snuggle into a bit.  “You’re good, too.”

They just watch for a few minutes and Baekhyun notices that they are coming to the end of the list of Instagram videos.  It also shows a few pictures that they enjoy as well.  As they go by, Baekhyun comments, “He really does have nice arms.”

“He does,” Jongdae says passively as he clicks through.  His eyes are on the screen and his mouth is a bit open and Baekhyun would make fun of him right now, but he knows what that look means.

“And his face isn’t bad,” Baekhyun says, keeping an even tone.  He thinks Minseok’s face is gorgeous, but Jongdae doesn’t need to know that much about Baekhyun’s preference right now, because he realizes that the brunette is turning to him and he can see his expression clearly.

The only time Baekhyun has ever seen Jongdae ever show interest in someone was in their second year of college with a girl named Jia.  She was cute and smart and kind and Jongdae sat behind her during a mandatory writing class.  He had noticed her immediately talking to her friends and was enraptured by her.  The first day of class ended with Baekhyun’s phone full of messages about this girl.

The look that Jongdae had now looked exactly how he looked at Jia.  His expression, usually blank or like a troll, turned into something dreamier.  If you didn’t know him that well, then you may not even notice that his expression changed but his friends did and endlessly teased him about it over the next semester.

He never ended up talking to her as far as Baekhyun knows.  Jongdae had felt that he has too busy with his major and his classes and that he couldn’t properly handle a relationship at the moment.  So, he had decided to let the crush die.  It was the lowest that Baekhyun had seen the boy and he noticed that the other seemed to drink a bit more at the parties that they went to after that for a bit. 

The next semester saw her getting a boyfriend and now they are engaged.  Baekhyun had been in a group project with the groom during freshman year and still followed him on social media.  When he had seen their engagement photos, he was initially not going to tell Jongdae but Chanyeol, lacking any sort of emotional tact, ended up telling him anyway.  No heartfelt emotion seemed to cross over him and he seemed to be completely over it.

“It’s a nice face,” Jongdae answers nonchalantly as he shrugs.   “He’s nice when he smiles as well and he’s obviously very dedicated to his work.”

“Very dedicated,” Baekhyun agrees as he nods along to the praise.  They have come to the end of the Instagram list.  “And talented!”

“I just wish there was more,” Jongdae says with a bit of a frown as he shakes the cursor trying to go down a page that has reached its end.

Not happy seeing his best friend unhappy and finding himself enjoying talking about Minseok when he has had no one to do so, he spills a small secret he has been keeping from Jongdae.   Baekhyun turns to him to get the full impact as he grins. “He also has a YouTube channel.”

Jongdae stares wide eyed at the blonde as the two seem to have a staring contest for a few seconds before his expression turns a bit skeptical.  “How many videos does he have?”

“At least ten times more content,” Baekhyun says, knowing that this is an understatement.  Sehun, being the best assistant in the world, has recorded hours of the baker doing random projects after their channel got big. 

Face now full of shock, Jongdae says, “Do you wanna order food?”

Baekhyun let’s out a small snort and smiles.  “Do you wanna drink?”

Two hours pass and they are still on the couch with food containers and bottles of coke and gin next to each other on the coffee table.  They are practically on top of one another, too lazy to move and a bit too tipsy.  They are on Minseok’s rainbow drip cake with layers of multi-color batter in the scientific order of a rainbow which is filled with a lightly whipped strawberry whip cream when Baekhyun’s mouth starts to loosen up.  Just like every time he drinks.  This time, though, he has his best friend as an enthusiastic listener, ready to listen to everything Baekhyun knows.  Just like every time Jongdae gets drunk with Baekhyun.  It feels like they are talking about an idol that they both fawn over for a minute.

Baekhyun worries that Jongdae, although tipsy, is not as far gone as he is.  The thought that they are both aware of each other’s feelings towards the baker is a bit scary, but Baekhyun is having fun as the two of them laugh and get excited over the same things that Minseok said.  Onscreen, Minseok’s lips wrap around a wooden spoon that was used to make buttercream and Baekhyun’s jaw goes slack at the sight.  One look at Jongdae shows that he is not alone. 

Jongdae shares what had happened that day at the taste test.  The man was very professional, Jongdae had mentioned that he loved almonds and Minseok brought out a bit of a marzipan croissant that he had made for him to try.  The baker had got it on his nose and had laughed it off when Sehun told him about it.  Jongdae was hooked on that laugh.

A few videos later, a Beauty and Beast cake with blown sugar as the glass and a fondant rose inside, Baekhyun notices that there is a bit of red fondant on the baker’s cheek.  The blonde lazily rolls his head towards Jongdae, who he is leaning against, when he sees his best friend’s expression.  Almost dreamy, like he was enchanted or under a spell.  Baekhyun thinks he’s handsome up close at this angle.  He’s always known that the florist was good looking, has been told by multiple people, but the feeling he was getting at this moment was foreign to him.

His emotions feel like a war inside of him and he is a confused mediator.  On one side, his gorgeous, kind, best friend, who is the best human on earth, has found someone he likes after all this time.  If anyone deserved to find love, then it would be Jongdae.  One the other side, he feels hurt.  He hasn’t had a crush on anyone like the one he had on Minseok, but Jongdae _is_ his best friend.  He could never choose between them.

The only solution that Baekhyun can come up with is to step away now.  Accept his lost and move on before he gets hurt even further.  Jongdae’s mouse hovers over a recommended video that is on Sehun’s own channel, which is separate from the two main channels and looks like a crazy Minseok fan.  It’s a compilation video of Minseok biting his lips throughout the rest of the videos as a celebration for getting a certain number of subscribers.

The video is seventeen minutes long.

It is _godly_.

Sehun is a saint.

Baekhyun stares at the screen four minutes in.  Letting his feelings go was going to be hard.

They don’t say anything throughout the seventeen minutes, but they watch the entire thing.  Jongdae makes a cute noise at one point and shakes Baekhyun’s arms which makes the two of them giggle like middle school girls.  They watch a normal video about cupcakes when Jongdae comments, “His earing looks good on him.”

Sure enough, Minseok had his black stud in on one of his ears and it looked amazing to Baekhyun, he’s always been a sucker for good looking guys with earrings.  When he was in college, he was pretty sure that he had slept with a guy just because he had a red hoop.  The guy was a good lay, as have all the guys he has slept with that had earrings.  “It does.”

Jongdae has a grin on his face as he finishes his drink and reaches to refill his cup.  The blonde’s mind is hazy from that party, but he thinks the other was at the party that he had picked up earring guy from.  Although, a lot of Baekhyun’s college parties have kind of blurred together at this point.  Must have been all the alcohol.  “You like guys with earrings.”

Thinking back, Baekhyun remembers when he realized that Jongdae liked guys as well as girls.  It was when they were at a party and the brunette was being a wingman for him.  They were standing against the wall trying to check out people in the room.  Jongdae had pointed out a guy with red hair styled as a mohawk with an up-sweep.  That guy had multiple black hoops in his ear.  He was also one of the sexiest people that Baekhyun had ever seen.  They had good night together when Baekhyun found out he had a tongue piercing.  Those things are cold when giving head.  “You do, too.”

“Ah,” Jongdae says and Baekhyun can feel him nod as he moves his chest as well.  “So, we both like guys with earrings.”

Baekhyun thinks Jongdae is drunk.  The two of them have not been subtle about their affections about Minseok at this point and if Jongdae was _just_ figuring out that they were becoming a love triangle like in a trashy teen romance story than he must be drunk.  His best friend has a high emotional intelligence for not only himself but for others around him.  “I think we have already established that.”

“What if we both got our ears pierced and I bought a pair of earrings?” Jongdae says as he tucks his head into the space between Baekhyun’s neck and shoulder.  He has a hand on Baekhyun’s thigh and another on his chest, steadying his position.  He rests there for a second and Baekhyun is afraid he has fallen asleep, reaching his arm around so that it encircles Jongdae and rests on his shoulder.  He looks up at Baekhyun.  “You would share with me, right?”

Baekhyun doesn’t know what this drunken rambling is about, but he is well acquainted with drunk Jongdae and knows how to take care of him.  He wasn’t even aware that the other had drank that much, usually he could outdrink Baekhyun.  The blonde will tease him about it later.  But, right now, his best friend is looking up with him with the most innocent and expecting expression, so Baekhyun squeezes the other into him.  “I would share with you.”

Feeling the brunette smile in his neck and then lays his head down on the other’s shoulder.  He hums and his voice has become a bit softer than usual.  “And it wouldn’t be weird to share it with me?”

_How bizzare_ , Baekhyun thinks as he just pats his best friend’s shoulder.  In the morning, he probably won’t even remember this conversation.  Better go with it so he doesn’t upset his friend in his fragile state.  “We share everything already.  What’s an earring in the grand scheme of things?”

The brunette smiles wider, but doesn’t ask anymore questions other than that.  He falls asleep during the next video and Baekhyun is careful to maneuver him so that he can turn the computer and projector off.  The two of them are way too comfy and the blonde is starting to feel the alcohol lull him to sleep, so he moves Jongdae so that they are both laying down and they fall asleep on the couch.

One week later has Baekhyun standing in the woods being bombarded with texts telling him that everything was wrong.  During his time as a wedding coordinator for the rich, and even when he was a wedding coordinator for those who had nothing, he has met tons of employers who were absolute monsters.  Most notable for sure are the brides, but no one talks about the grooms who are scarier than anything you can imagine under your bed or the mothers who just want everything to be perfect in her way with no consideration for her children. 

Today, he was dealing with the bride’s mother who has been opposed to an outside wedding since the second it came up during the first meeting ten months ago.  Ten months of bitching and Baekhyun was trying to keep composure as he tried to not pull his hair or throw his work phone.

This wedding is at a state park in the beginning of Fall, so that it is still hot but there is a slight breeze.  Over four hundred guests will be coming and getting vans of people to be housed in cabins in a secluded forest with a shouting mother was almost too much to take.  The weather was perfect and the weather forecast only showed one percent chance of rain, what was the mother so upset about?  On top of this, the bride had been stress eating and it was looking like her dress, which was perfectly tailored for her, was now starting to become a tight squeeze.  He was exhausted, but if it was crazy now, then it wouldn’t be during the wedding.  That would be much worst.

Jongdae had taken the time to drive out to the state park and deliver his flowers on both Friday and Saturday.  So, he takes his time and wonders over to him, looking for a short break with his best friend.  He is working on his bouquets which are gorgeous and completely overdone on Pinterest, but what in this wedding _wasn’t_ overdone.  Every other wedding Baekhyun had wanted to ‘incorporate nature’ into it.  The bouquets looked almost like a bird’s nest with twigs sticking out erratically with a few scattered berries and flowers sprinkled throughout.

During the consultation with Jongdae with the bride, groom, and, unfortunately, the mother, things had taken a turn for the worst.  The mother had pushed for red roses and baby’s breath, but the bride was set on this picture from somewhere online.  It had blown up quickly and Jongdae was there to mediate as he made the bride’s display which she was thrilled about.  The mother fumed.  In Baekhyun’s opinion, the Baby’s Breath had no business being in this wedding, it would look out of place.  He finds Jongdae outside the main tent and sits in the chair next to him and tries not to collapse.  He was on the clock and on the clock meant looking good as you manage your team.

As a compromise, Jongdae had put a couple of baby’s breath in the vases that are to be used at the reception.  The brunette is stuffing the vases, but smiles at his friend in acknowledgement.  Baekhyun groans as another text message alarm goes off and he stares at the flowers in contempt. “Baby’s breath is so old fashioned.”

A small laugh comes from Jongdae as he turns from his work to fully face his best friend.  “We’re in the woods.  It doesn’t get more old fashioned than this.”

The blonde snorts and gestures to everything around him.  There are tents everywhere with a modern kitchen set up for the cooks not too far away.  When Jongdae doesn’t seem to understand by just having Baekhyun wave around like an idiot, Baekhyun points to the sign giving the WIFI password, the one Baekhyun had to set up for the bridal party.  “Are we really?”

Jongdae rolls his eyes.  “You know more than anyone that this sort of thing is trendy right now.”

Baekhyun sighs as he closes his eyes, reminiscent of an old man troubled by the youths.  “A trend that should die.”

Smiling, Jongdae puts a hand on Baekhyun’s shoulder and leans close.  “I was searching online and I realized that bright pink tacky boas were becoming a real thing along with feathers gaining a great surge in popularity.”

Baekhyun grimaces and is quick to say, “This is fine.”

There is a light squeeze on his shoulder from where Jongdae is touching him.  Lately, Jongdae seems to have been initiating more hugs and freely hanging off him more than usual.  He’s not sure what has changed but he wonders if the guy is stressed.  When he had liked that girl in college, he did unnecessarily cause himself a lot more anxiety.  He wonders if Minseok is giving him that same since of nerves.  It didn’t matter.  If Jongdae was seeking comfort from him, then Baekhyun was ready to comply whenever needed.

Baekhyun goes to check his phone and try and handle whatever is going to jump out next when his shoulder is squeezed almost painfully and Jongdae is bending down in excitement to whisper in his ear.  “He’s here.”

The blonde looks up and is greeted by the sight of Minseok and his cute smile as he and his assistant are coming towards the tent from the main road.  It’s a bit of a hike and Baekhyun hopes they can get the cake up here.  When the baker sees him, he puts on a smile and waves as he walks toward the blonde.  Sehun is too engrossed by his phone and hangs back as his boss handles all the talking.  The brunette shakes him a bit and gasps.  “Go!  He’s looking for you.  Tell me all about it.”

Something painful hits Baekhyun when he looks at Jongdae.  His best friend seems to be overjoyed that he is about to talk to the man his best friend likes.  Still, he doesn’t think about it too much.  He tries to put on his most professional face and greets Minseok with a smile.

“Good afternoon,” Baekhyun says welcoming.  “I apologize for not meeting you by the road. I know it’s a bit of a walk.  It’s pretty, though.”

“It’s alright, I expect you to be busy,” Minseok says reassuringly.  He looks a bit around to the multiple tents before clasping his fingers together.  “Where do you want me to set up?”

Leading, the blonde takes Minseok to the corner of the largest tent which is where the reception will be held.  Sehun does not follow them, too engrossed in his texting.  A large table has been set up for the cake to be placed along with a cake stand that had to be custom made to put it on.   Next to it is a long table for the rest of the desserts that Minseok has been commissioned to make.  Baekhyun rests his hand on the table.  “You can bring it here.  It’s really large, though, do you need any help?”

The baker smiles again and it makes Baekhyun feel weak.  He was doing well so far, but right now the baker was being a bit too cute for him.  “I think Sehun and I can handle it.”  He points up to where fans have been positioned all around the main tent, hidden as best as they could so not to be an eyesore.  “The fans are good.  It is still a bit too hot out here for the cakes and the strawberries.”

One of the fan revolves around the area and quickly passes them, causing the baker to shiver a bit.  His face scrunches up and Baekhyun thinks it is adorable.  He tries to not let a cute smile appear on his face as he goes to turn the fan off, but Minseok stops him by placing a hand on his forearm.  They’ve never touched before.  Baekhyun is on cloud nine.  “You just seemed a bit cold,” Baekhyun protests weekly.

“Thank you for the concern, I really do hate the cold,” Minseok says as he quickly realizes his hand and pulls it away as he stands up straight.  “But the cakes the cakes seem to thrive in it.  Don’t worry about me.  As much as I hate it, I work in freezing temperatures all the time.”

“How dedicated,” Baekhyun comments and the other laughs softly.

The baker shrugs as he grins.  “Everyone has a hobby they enjoy, don’t they?  I’m really not all that special.”

Baekhyun laughs.  If only this guy knew that he had a whole fandom worth of people who were praising him, then maybe he would change his mind.  This guy has won awards for his cakes.  He was amazing.  “I think you might have more than just a hobby on your plate.”

“A lifestyle then.  I do enjoy it.”  The baker smiles largely so that his gums show.  At this moment, Jongin decides that Baekhyun is not having a thrilling enough conversation and comes over, quickly excusing himself before asking if the caterer should make more chicken or pork.  The answer is chicken and Jongin sweeps himself off to handle yet another problem popping up at this wedding.  “You’re really good with managing all your people and all of this stuff,” Minseok says as he gestures to all around him.  “And do it all on time as well.  I could never do that.”

Preening under the praise, Baekhyun quickly tries to turn the conversation.  “You’re pretty busy too and you have never been late on giving me and anything I have needed.”

“Yes, but I only manage one person.”

“He looks like a handful.”

The baker snorts before staring a bit at his hands.  “He’s really good.  He’ll be even better one day when he learns to stop texting over wet batter.  I wish he could be just a bit more committed to his work, like you.”

Behind Minseok, Sehun appears, popping his head in from the side of the tent.  “Hey,” he calls.  “Let’s go!”

The baker does a small wave as he follows Sehun out.  “See you later, Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun waves back but cannot find a way to make his voice work.  Receiving two compliments from the baker was making him feel weak in the knees and threatening a crazy wide grin on his face.  The only thing that his keeping him together is that he knows he is at work and he cannot burst in excitement here like he would if he was at home. 

Quickly, he makes his way back to Jongdae who could see at least part of the conversation from where he was arranging his flowers.  It doesn’t look like he got much done while Baekhyun was away. During the walk, Baekhyun has pulled himself together from being a lovesick middle school girl with a crush on the most popular guy in school and has morphed into the adult that he is.

His best friend grins up at him, a knowing look in his eye.  “How was it?”

“He told me that he likes to bake,” Baekhyun says honestly.  Jongdae’s shoulder sag as he makes a noise of frustration at the blonde.

“We already knew that,” the brunet says exasperated.  “You didn’t even flirt.  I could see professional written all over you.”

“I’ve known him for months,” Baekhyun explains as he frowns at the accusations being made towards him.  “Why would anything change now?”

“Because you should?”

“Are you telling me that I should openly flirt with my employee?”  The blonde asks in a low voice, not that anyone can hear them.  “That’s not a good idea.”

Jongdae rolls his eyes.  “College Baekhyun would be so disappointed in you.  Hell, the Beakhyun going out for drinks last week would be disappointed.”

Baekhyun looks at the ground.  “College Baekhyun burnt a lot of bridges,” he says seriously.

Jongdae reaches out to squeeze his hand.  “Stop being pessimistic.  You have great relationships with all of your exes.  Just make a small comment about maybe see if he wants to do something after work.  See how he reacts.  If it isn’t good, then immediately stop or apologize and step away.  But after seeing you two, I don’t think he will.”

Cheered up considerably, Baekhyun smiles at his best friend.  “Thanks.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Minseok and Sehun putting the large cake on the table.  They seem to be trying to move the large vases at the same time.  Thankful for his best friend, he subtly points them out to Jongdae.  “Maybe you should go give them a hand.”

Jongdae smirks as he turns with Baekhyun wishing him good luck.  He watches as the baker and his best friend strike up a conversation.  He sees Jongdae put a hand on Minseok’s shoulder and expects at least a bit of jealousy, especially with what he just felt with Minseok, but seems to fail at feeling anything like that.  Instead, he feels a bit of what he thinks is happiness.  As he tries to think about his feelings, he realizes Jongin has appeared next to him and is waving his hand in front of his face.

“ _Hello_ ,” Jongin says, a bit annoyed.  “Am I the only one working here and not ogling over someone else?”

Dramatically, Baekhyun drops his jaw at being caught.  “I’m not!”

Frowning, Jongin gestures to both Jongdae and Minseok.  “You are outright staring at them!  And what were you just doing talking to him?  Playing wingman for Jongdae?”

“I was showing him where he needed to set up,” Baekhyun explains, crossing his arms.

Jongin rolls his eyes, but a small smile appears on his face.  “Are they going to get together?”

“I hope so.”

“Well then, you’ve done your part,” Jongin says as he looks down to his clipboard to check information about this wedding.  “Staring anymore is not going to help wingman any further.”

The elder lightly hits his assistant in the shoulder.  “Who is the boss here?  Can you remind me?”

“Well, _boss_ , I need your help dealing with the catering staff,” Jongin says.  The catering staff is one they have worked with multiple times before.  They never had a problem with this staff, so Baekhyun is hesitant.

“What do they need?” Baekhyun asks as he looks around and it doesn’t seem like the caterers are doing anything other than making food, which is their job.  Everything looks like it is going according to plan.

“There seems to be some disagreement over something.  It would be better just to show you,” Jongin says quickly, not looking up from his board.  Baekhyun spots Chanyeol near the entrance of the catering tent, setting up the large vases that line the aisles.

“Is there really a problem or is it just because Chanyeol is over there?”

Jongin sighs as Baekhyun speaks the truth.  “Yes!  Please make him stop talking to me.  He keeps trying to impress me and all this stuff but I’m really busy and I kind of don’t care and he is just embarrassing himself in front of everyone.  I wish he would just confess to me already instead of doing all this stuff so that I can just reject him instead of being stuck in this awkward spot with him.”

Seeing his assistant upset, Baekhyun reaches out to pat him on the back for comfort.  He has known Chanyeol since they were in college, partying it up after classes and drinking during them.  This meant that Baekhyun has unfortunately had to witness Chanyeol flirting a lot more than he would like to admit.  The guy was overwhelming and could not do anything subtle.  It came across as confident and it worked when out at a party or at a club, but not when trying to find someone to actually date.  His last girlfriend started as a friend with benefits situation so he didn’t actually have to flirt with her too much.  Unpracticed, it was leaving Jongin less than impressed.   “I’ll get on it.”

“Thanks.”  Jongin smiles at him and they walk together to the caterers.  After checking up on them, Baekhyun grabs Jongin’s list of stuff to do and sends about two text messages before he is distracted.  Something draws his eyes over to Jongdae and Minseok as they talk.  Not wanting to be overt, he pretends to write on his clipboard as he steals glances of them.  They seem to be getting along with each other pretty well and having a good time.  Jongdae was naturally funny and people tended to befriend him quickly.

Still, something rings a pain inside of his chest.  He is not sure of what it is.  Isn’t them getting together what he wants?  As he stalks them, he realizes that Jongdae has a strange glint in his eyes.  Baekhyun hasn’t seen that particular look of excitement since they were setting up Jongdae’s flower shop.  Something he cared a lot about, showing the ambitious side of him that people didn’t seem to see in him.  They just say the chill guy who was friends with everyone.

He tries to do some work and is almost distracted when he sees Sehun and Minseok going back out to their car to bring in the rest of the desserts.  Jongdae is walking back to him with a smile on his face.  When he reaches the blonde, he grasps his hands.  “He loves to bake!  He’s so cute!”

Baekhyun laughs at how he had spent so much time worrying about what they were talking about when he realizes it was just about baking.  It’s Minseok, of course it is about baking.  “I know he is.”

“He’s so stiff and kind of shy,” Jongdae gushes.  “But I actually think he went along with a kind of suggestive joke that I may have made.”

Minseok might be attracted to Jongdae.  “It might just be Sehun’s influence or you were just a flirt.  I saw that smile you had.”

“At least I am not as bad as you,” the brunette says teasing.  “You are a bulldozer when you flirt.”

“Just because you’re in denial does not mean you are subtler than me,” Baekhyun throws right back.  His best friend snorts.

“I’m _forward_ ,” Jongdae emphasizes as if the distinction made it any better.  “You’re kind of a slut.”

“College Baekhyun may have been a slut, but I think I have cleaned up my act by now,” the blonde explains, standing straight at the accusation.

 “I’m talking about last week!”  Jongdae exclaims.  The other sighs, Baekhyun always did have a weakness for tequila.  “You need to be forward like me or else you are not going to get anywhere with Minseok.  No one is going to get you behind a clipboard.”

Frowning, Baekhyun doesn’t like that they are talking about this again today.  “No one is going to get you behind a bouquet.”

“That’s not fair,” Jongdae protests.  “It’s really hard to outshine flowers.”

“I know.  Chanyeol is enthralled about them and won’t shut up about them sometimes.”

Jongdae laughs at his assistant’s absurdity.  The reason that Jongdae worked with Chanyeol was because the other loved plants like no one else.  He was also a hard worker when he wanted to be.  So what if he liked to talk to flowers?  Everyone has their quirks.  “Chanyeol is enthralled by Jongin.”

“Also by a ficus!”  Baekhyun exclaims.  The two giggle as they see Sehun and Minseok come back from their truck.  Although covered up, Baekhyun can practically see the muscles in his arm flex as the baker lifts the platters of chocolate covered strawberries to put on the table.  The two of them are staring, but realize it and try to act casual, playful smiles on their lips as they share their secret.

“How are we going to get someone like that?”  Jongdae asks dreamily, as he glances sideways at the baker.  Baekhyun’s mind reels at the mention of us, as in a singular unit, but he quickly doesn’t entertain that thought.  He can’t dwell on that.

“He told me about his workout routine,” Jongdae comments.  As much as Baekhyun didn’t like talking about his gym routine, he would listen to the baker recite his tax forms.  “I think my routine is close to his.”

“I still don’t see muscle on you,” Baekhyun teases and is met with a high blow to his chest as punishment.

“They strong enough for you, now?”  Instead of hitting Baekhyun again, as is their usual dynamic, Jongdae snakes his arm up the blonde’s and lets his hand rest right above his elbow, steadying him from the previous blow.  It’s not a normal thing of theirs to be touching like this, but if Jongdae really is as nervous as this implies, then Baekhyun won’t say anything, just squeeze him a little harder in comfort.  Truth be told, if Jongdae liked to touch, then Baekhyun was a greedy green monster, always on the hunt for smooth flesh and toasty hugs.

“Are you okay?”  He asks.

The brunette looks at him curiously.  “Of course.”

Jongdae steps away and goes to help Chanyeol who is attempting to balance two large vases and is struggling.  He’s staring at Jongin’s ass while he talks to one of the servers for the night.  What he was not doing was paying any attention to the tall, lanky florist who was the embodiment of embarrassment.  The server just seemed confused.

Baekhyun decides he needs to remedy this and walks towards Chanyeol.  As he sees Jongdae take the vases with ease he wonders if he should start lifting again.  His focus on cardio workouts due to his frequent runs were making him weaker than he would like.  With Minseok’s arms coming into mind, maybe he was starting to feel a little bit of inspiration.  Pulling himself out of those thoughts, he waits for Chanyeol to be scolded by Jongdae about carrying the vases before stepping in.  He sees Jongin give him a relieved smile.  “Stop staring at my assistant!”

Chanyeol looks a bit shocked as he hisses, “I haven’t been anywhere near him today.”

“That hasn’t stopped your staring,” Jongdae backs Baekhyun up.  “The service staff is looking at you strangely.”

“Stop distracting my workers,” Baekhyun adds on.  Chanyeol’s face falls and his shoulders sag.

“He’s never going to notice me, is he?”  The tall florist asks his two friends, seemingly out of hope.  Jongdae pats him on the back.

“He notices you,” Baekhyun says as he gets ready to reveal a harsh truth to Chanyeol.  “It’s just that he wishes that you would stop.”

“Which you should,” Jongdae says in a much more comforting tone.  “I think you were just looking for a rebound anyway.  Cheer up and try and find someone else, yeah?”

Chanyeol rolls his eyes because he knows that what Jongdae is saying is the truth.  “I guess I’ll try.  I do really like him, though.”

“Then maybe you should change a few of your tactics,” Baekhyun suggests.  “Be romantic for once.”

“Have you seen me?  I can’t do that,” Chanyeol says as he steps away from the conversation to start up a new one with a plant not too far away.  The two best friends sigh as they leave him alone for a bit.  They have done all that they can do for now.  It was time to let Chanyeol come to those terms on his own.

Baekhyun actually gets some work done in the next thirty minutes.  Despite getting texts from the mother of the bride, everything is going smoothly now.  They should be done in time for the ceremony and the reception.  Everything was looking good.  He even got a text saying that the bride fit into her dress and the only problem now was that she was sobbing so much that her make-up had to be redone.  The flowers were all set up and Chanyeol and Jongdae are getting ready to head out.  He goes over to Baekhyun to tell him as Chanyeol sulks in the van.

They both stop talking when they realize that Minseok is being asked by Sehun to try one of the semi-chocolate strawberries that are dressed to the dimes for freshness.  The baker agrees and lifts the strawberry to his mouth, licking his lips and curling his tongue against the dessert.  Jongdae grabs Baekhyun’s arm to keep himself upright as they unapologetically stare.  A single drop runs down from his red lips.  He makes a face at Sehun, nose scrunched up and Baekhyun lives for that look on his face.  He can hear Jongdae letting out a small “adorable” from next to him.

Sehun looks a bit apologetic which surprises Baekhyun because he thought the guy only had one expression this whole time, mocking.  “I’m sorry, Minseok.  I forget how much you hate it.”

“The strawberries are fresh,” Minseok says as he shakes his head and throws the dessert away into the nearest trash can.

“I don’t think he likes berries that are red,” Baekhyun explains lowly to Jongdae.  A while back, one of Minseok’s fans had realizes something in all his videos and after watching so many religiously, she brought her theory to the rest of the fanbase with examples to back up her claim.  It was a twelve minute video of every single time Minseok’s face had scrunched up when he was eating something that he did not particularly like.  The expression he made had his face becoming five years younger and three times cuter.  Now, when he uploads anything with cherries or raspberries in the title or sees a client order it, since they are popular, a small sense of exhilaration rushes through Baekhyun.  It’s an odd feeling he is not sure how to accommodate.

Sehun hands the small baker one of the semi-sweet bonbons.  Even with his small size, the glare he gives his assistant is almost reaching into terrifying levels.  The tall assistant looks guilty again.  “You know I can’t tell or else I would eat it myself.”

Reluctantly he puts the bonbon in his mouth as the baker seems to power through eating the dessert.  Baekhyun looks to see Jongdae’s mouth open just a bit.  “He hates chocolate.”

“I see that.”

Wide eyed, Jongdae turns to him.  “Is this a mayday?”

Dramatically, Baekhyun pretends to be upset, comforting Jongdae by reaching up to lay his hand on Jongdae’s where he still grabbing onto his arm for strength.  “Nobody is perfect.  We will just have to adjust to him having a flaw.”

“Two flaws,” Jongdae points out, laughing a bit at his best friend’s antics.  “He doesn’t like strawberries.”

“I hate them too,” Baekhyun says as he shrugs.  “I find it a redeeming quality.”

Minseok points to one of the dark chocolate bonbons.  “Hand me one of those so I can get this taste out of my mouth.”

“He’s perfect,” Jongdae whispers into Baekhyun’s ear.  The brunette loves chocolate, but dark chocolate has always been his favorite.  They both watch as the chocolate smears a bit on his cheek before he eats it.  He looks innocent as Sehun points it out and smiles when the assistant tries and tells him where it is.  The two best friends squeeze each other closer.

“You two are gross,” Chanyeol says as the two friends jump apart to turn to him.  The tall florist turns to Jongdae, obviously still in a bad mood.  “Are we going or what?”

“Are you seriously calling _us_ gross?”  Jongdae asks accusingly.  Chanyeol’s frown deepens.  “Fine.  I’ll see you later, Baekhyun.”

Two days past and a new video is uploaded to the main channel.  The theme is Bob Ross and it is long enough for his fanbase to have a small panic attack.  Minseok is watching a Bob Ross episode on his tablet and tries to recreate the water painting effects onto the cake itself.  It’s difficult because it is tiered and not a flat surface.  It turns out beautiful and goes viral almost immediately as his brother puts it on Facebook and tags him.  He sees Jongdae pulling it up on the projector as Baekhyun walks inside of the apartment, hands filled with takeout noodles since it was so late.  Baekhyun puts the noodles on the coffee table before sitting on the other edge of the couch and closes his eyes.  He’s tired.

When he opens his eyes, he sees Jongdae putting his arm on the back on the couch inviting his best friend over.  Not even being tired makes Baekhyun want to waste a cuddling opportunity so he scoots over and leans his head on Jongdae’s side.  He’s wearing that one well-worn school jacket from freshman year that is his most cozy article of clothing that he owns.  Baekhyun loves this jacket on him.  It warms Baekhyun up as he settles in.  His back is cold, something that Jongdae can easily fix.  The brunette drapes his arm over Baekhyun’s back and rest his hand on the blonde’s opposite shoulder.  Baekhyun feels a small squeeze.  He doesn’t know what he did to Jongdae to receive so much affection, but he doesn’t care at the moment.  He feels content as they lie there watching the video and eventually pulling apart so that they can dig into their noodles.

“He’ll notice us eventually,” Jongdae says and closes his eyes as he leans against Baekhyun.  Baekhyun can’t escape his feeling this time, but his mouth feels dry when he tries to point out how Minseok can only end up with one of them.  The most that Baekhyun can even hope for is that Jongdae and Minseok drunkenly, because no way would this happen sober, invite him to a threesome one day.  A small image pop’s up into Baekhyun’s brain of Jongdae and Minseok and him and he files that away into the dark recess of his mind to never see the light of day ever again.  Or maybe for nights alone.

This brought up something else up from his memories that he doesn’t dwell on for more than a few seconds at a time if he can help it.  He hates when he opens the door to his deepest weirdest thoughts.  The thoughts that included his first crush on a TA seven years older than him and the real reason that his brother’s favorite toy truck would never be found again.  Because, since he was being honest with himself, he has thought about being with Jongdae before.

They live together seamlessly and their work schedules and future ambitions were compatible and both understood the importance of the other’s job to them.  They were both also naturally touchy people so they were good in that department there as well.  If they weren’t, then Baekhyun couldn’t even consider them.  He had slept with a girl once who hated to cuddle, they lasted one night.  But, him and Jongdae, it wouldn’t be too strenuous on the mind to think of them being just a bit more, touching just a bit further. 

Jongdae is the best catch for anyone and Baekhyun didn’t exclude himself from that list.  He was kind and beautiful and attractive (in that bro type of way, but kind of in that sexual way that wasn’t?).  He puts his heart into his work and is one of the hardest workers that Baekhyun knows.  He wouldn’t hire him if he was lazy even if he was his best friend.

This was also why Baekhyun was scared.  Jongdae was the perfect person for Minseok, at least a better choice than Baekhyun himself.  Sometimes, Baekhyun feels like he would overwhelm the small baker.  Jongdae wouldn’t overwhelm him.  Despite being an extrovert, Jongdae was overall quieter and much more understanding.

Also, again, straight from the dark recesses of his mind, a drunken thought from a party from Baekhyun’s wilder days saw Jongdae with red lips from a liquor shot and thought that those lips would be perfect for giving head.  He has the lips for it.  Now that Baekhyun had remembered it, Baekhyun was pretty sure that the thought wouldn’t leave his night for the rest of the night.

He tries to stop his line of thought by reemphasizing himself that Jongdae will be great for Minseok and vowing to himself that he will try to step back or at least play wingman for his best friend.  He tells himself that his life would be great with that future scenario.  He already gets along great with Minseok so he hopes that they will become great friends.

Still, something from his old always partnered days speaks to him.  It speaks to the lonely side of him that always gets to him when he has to listen to couples as they cover their obligatory ‘How did you meet?’ question that was required to go on forever when talking to your wedding coordinator.  Instead of dwelling on that dark side of him, he curls up further into his best friend as they watch some baker taste test frosting.

Baekhyun meets Minseok again a week later for a taste test for another set of clients.  The woman made more money in an hour than Baekhyun did in a year and had heard that Baekhyun knew Minseok and had demanded that her fiancé find him to be their wedding coordinator.  She _needed_ that Bob Ross cake that had gone viral online and wanted Minseok to make her another fantastic creation.  Breathing down Baekhyun’s neck, he had arranged for a taste test.  She was perpetually late to everything so Baekhyun wasn’t surprised that he had arrived at Minseok’s work space and his clients were not there.

He found Minseok and Sehun still in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on the large platter of samples of different cakes and another one of small desserts to be served at this wedding.  This woman wanted a large cake and then every guest will receive a small personal cake with a couple other desserts on top.  It was going to be a lot of work, but Minseok and Sehun would be generously paid for their work.  Baekhyun knows he was being paid quite well right now, even if the bride was born with a platinum credit card in her mouth.

The small baker turns to him and smiles when he sees Baekhyun.  “Hey, how’s it going?”

“Fine,” Baekhyun says truthfully.  He checks his phone to find a text from the fiancé saying they had just left the house.  They lived twenty minutes away and the appointment started one minute ago.   It was a good thing that Baekhyun had the foresight to book the usual one hour appointment for two.  “The clients today are going to be a little late.”

“You had mentioned that they might be,” Minseok says as he finishes icing one of the cake samples.  It looks to be the last as he lifts the platter to put next to Baekhyun who is sitting at the counter.  Sehun is still pulling things out of the freezer and fridge to put on the other platter.  “Anything I should know about them.”

“They love you so I don’t think anything will be that bad,” Baekhyun says.  The bride had a clear vision of what she wanted for her wedding and it was refreshing to work with when most of his clients gave vague wants that clashed together (“ _I want an ice rink but I want the wedding to take place on the beach.”_ or _“I want a fantasy wedding where I am a princess and my colors are pink, black, and green, but I also want it to be Frozen themed but I also want to ‘incorporate nature’ into it by having vampires and zombies coming and going.  Can you make that happen?”_ ).  She also didn’t seem to be completely unreasonable, just rich.  “She can afford anything and she is dead set on that Bob Ross cake that was uploaded.  She spent at least an hour talking to me about how it was just perfect for her.”

“Was something uploaded?”  Minseok asks, a bit confused as he turns to Sehun who is trying not to laugh as he pulls the crème from the refrigerator.  He turns back to Baekhyun when he doesn’t get an immediate response from his younger assistant for an explanation.  “Maybe I shouldn’t forget that I work with a complete brat!”  He raises his voice a little higher than usual from his soft voice so that now it is at the level a normal person talks at.

“Sorry,” Sehun says giving a half-assed apology.  The tall, lanky assistant puts down the crème and laughs as he turns to open the fridge again.

Playfully frowning, Minseok takes his phone that is lying on the counter and starts to text on it as he talks to Sehun.  “It’s alright.  I’ll ask your boyfriend all about it.”

The baking assistant whips his head away from the fridge and approaches his boss with an almost worried look on his face.  “I’m actually sorry!”

Minseok turns his phone around to show what Sehun texted his boyfriend and Sehun rolls his eyes before going back to the fridge realizing that his boss was just messing with him.  The antics cause Baekhyun to laugh as he puts his elbow on the counter and his hand on his face to lean on it before commenting.  “I’m glad you uploaded it.  I really enjoyed it.  I wanted to be one of those people who drew those sketches for fashion designers when I was in high school, but I could barely draw.  Bob Ross helped me out for quite a while back then.”

“What made you be a wedding coordinator then?”  Minseok asks, curious.

Baekhyun gives him a wide grin.  “I realized that I like bossing other people around too much.”

Minseok gives a gentle laugh as he spins Baekhyun’s words.  “A natural leader, then.”

“You’re too kind,” Baekhyun responds.  He couldn’t deny that he was a natural leader but he could get bossy real quickly and it had been a problem in his school days for group projects.  People not in favor of naming him team leader soon realized he would jack that title for himself sooner or later anyways.  It didn’t make him very popular.  “Anyways, I love what I do.  Everyone deserves to be happy on their special day.”

“That’s surprisingly romantic,” the baker says. “I would have thought that shrieking grooms would kind of make you disillusioned.”

Baekhyun shrugs.  “I kind of like them.  They give me an excuse to drink during the weekdays.”

Minseok gives off a small laugh as he checks the platter of desserts that Sehun has just finished.  Now, Sehun just had to clean up the multitude of dishes that he was using.  Unlike Minseok’s pristine working conditions, Sehun’s was a bit more of a mess.  As the small baker was distracted, Baekhyun knew that it was time for him to bring up the perfect wingman opportunity.  Take a chance after all of these years.

“Jongdae and I, you know Jongdae right?”  Minseok nods and Baekhyun continues.  “Jongdae and I are going for drinks if you want to join us,” Baekhyun says as casually as he can, kind of checking his phone at the same time to make it seem like he was not a nervous wreck at the moment.  He doesn’t even want to look at the baker in fear of getting rejected because he had just had to muster up a lot of confidence to even ask this.  He and Jongdae didn’t even have plans to go out and drink.

“Yes!”  Sehun immediately exclaims from where he is putting the dirty dishes into the industrial size sink.

Minseok immediately scoffs.  “You have class tonight and you shouldn’t be missing class all the time, you’re only taking three credit hours.”

“No, I meant you!”  Sehun leans on the counter across from Baekhyun and his boss.  He turns to the blonde.  His voice actually changed from being monotoned to something similar to excitement.  “He is definingly going and he says yes!”

Minseok is giving Sehun a look that Baekhyun cannot decipher. Still, he turns to Minseok and actually looks at him this time.  “Do you want to join us?”

Done giving whatever look to Sehun he turns to Baekhyun to give a small smile as his assistant grabs his phone to start texting.  “It sounds fun.”

Baekhyun smiles in joy and tries to restrain himself from fist pumping in the air like a frat boy as he gives Minseok a time and place.  The place is small and good for talking and one of Baekhyun’s favorite places to gather. He knows that it won’t be busy on a Thursday which was perfect.  As soon as he is done, he gets a call from his clients and the taste test commences.

When he has time, Baekhyun goes to text Jongdae to inform him of these plans.

To: Dae [Sent 14:21]

**i got minseok to agree to drinks tonight in three hours clear your schedule and you better be there**

From: Dae [Sent 14.23]

**How the fuck did you manage that!?!  I gotta get Chanyeol to take a client then.**

To: Chanyeolisthebest [Sent 14.24]

**take daes client**

From: Chanyeolsucks [Sent 14.35]

**no, you two are gross : <**

To: Chanyeoleatsdicks [Sent 14:36]

**do it or else i tell gin that you were the one who stole those flowers last month so you could talk to him**

From: Chanyeoleatsdicks [Sent 14.37]

**your mean :(**

To: Dae [Sent 14.38]

**were good!**

Chanyeol was so easy to manipulate.  The taste test goes well (as in Baekhyun got to taste a lot of great desserts and was running on a sugar high and there were no big blow ups from his clients) and Baekhyun says goodbye to the two bakers before rushing home and taking a shower and changing.  Jongdae is home not to long after him and they leave so that they can get one of the tables in the back, a prime spot at this bar as it was the quietest and the comfiest.  It was a small round table with three stools and Baekhyun’s knees knock into Jongdae’s, as they probably will with Minseok’s as well, as they wait only a couple minutes before Minseok shows up.

Baekhyun hoped that it wouldn’t be awkward.  The two best friends have only talked to Minseok individually and never together. The two of them and their interactions could something take some time to fully get a grasp on.  Sometimes, they felt like they may be overbearing because they were both two large personalities that multiplied when together which could overshadow the quiet baker.  Still, Baekhyun tried to reassure himself that he and Jongdae played to each other’s strengths so that it wouldn’t be as bad as he thought.

Baekhyun had never seen Minseok in normal clothes, usually in just his baking outfits, but the guy looked good in those jeans that he had picked out.  He got to admire them as the baker had gone to the bar to order a drink and he appreciated them with a knowing grin from Jongdae.  With already one drink down and a shot, because the two of them needed to loosen up around the baker to make a good impression and they didn’t have a lot of time before he arrived, Baekhyun was already feeling himself feeling good.  He blames the rum.

It wasn’t awkward at all.  Baekhyun and Minseok both accounted their taste test adventures of the day and their encounters with the over the top client that Baekhyun was dealing with.  Jongdae had already heard about this client a few times so he was already in the loop when it came to understanding what was happening.  The three laughed and Jongdae remembered a story from a few years back at Jongin’s birthday that was always a fun story to tell to a new crowd even though Baekhyun was there for it and has heard it multiple times.  Still, he never gets tired of hearing it and it leaves the small baker in stitches from laughing so hard.  Both of them gave each other squeezes on the knee under the table to reassure each other how well it was going.

“You two work so well together,” Minseok had commented after a story about one of Baekhyun’s worst clients.  A woman who had three dogs and wanted everything to be about them.  The woman had a bridal shower and a puppy shower. It was creepy.  Jongdae had been there to witness the wedding movie come out and had to sit there with Baekhyun in their living room as they watched an hour of a woman baby talking to her dogs and fiancé looking miffed in the corner.  It was a sad day.  After the comment, Minseok seems a bit flustered so he continues his thought.  “I mean you two play off each other really well.  Makes for lively conversation.”

Jongdae looks to Baekhyun and tries not to giggle in his face.  He grabs the blonde’s hand.  “I like to think we do after all this time,” he says casually.

Baekhyun restrains himself and only gives a small smile and a nod but inside his head there are alarm bells going off.  What is his best friend _doing_?  This whole situation is going to make the baker think that they are together.  How is he going to play wingman for Jongdae if Minseok thinks they are together?  How are either of them going to get Minseok if Minseok thinks they are together?  Why is Jongdae doing this?  He tries to give Jongdae a look but stops when her realizes that he should gauge Minseok’s expression to see how he takes it.  Maybe he won’t think that they are together and be denser than he thought.  Or at least drunk enough to not notice.

“Oh,” Minseok says.  There’s a small look of surprise on Minseok’s face as his face forms an ‘O’ but he recovers.  So definitely not drunk enough.  “How long?”

“We’ve known each other since freshman year of college,” Jongdae says as he squeezes the blonde’s hand.  It does not reassure Baekhyun nor does it calm him.  He tries to get his best friend to look at him but Jongdae is staring straight at Minseok and seems to not understand what the implication of his words and actions are communicating to the baker.  The brunette smiles instead.

“Wow, that’s amazing,” Minseok says as he laughs softly as he drinks the last of his drink.  Baekhyun has no idea what that response is saying.  “People drift so far apart after college sometimes.  I’m glad that you two found a way to beat the odds.”  He holds us his empty drink.  “Do you two need anything more?”

“I am always up for more,” Baekhyun says as he swishes his drink which is nearing its end, thankful for the topic change and an excuse to release Jongdae’s hold on his hand.

“Are you now?”  Jongdae teases Baekhyun ( _now_ he looks at him) briefly before turning his attention back to Minseok.  “This guy used to be the life of the party and now I am pretty sure that he is just getting old and boring.”

“Hey!” Baekhyun protests with a small hit to his shoulder, their regular dynamic, “I still have a lot more fun still left in side of me.”

Minseok laughs as he picks up Baekhyun’s drink and forms the sweetest smile on his lips. “I sure it was a sight to behold.”

Baekhyun has no idea how to interpret _that_ statement because he thinks that was flirting, but he was too wrapped up in Jongdae’s implication of them being together to fully comprehend anything.  As soon as Minseok is a couple of feet away so he can’t hear them, he is turning to his best friend who is making dreamy eyes at the baker’s ass.

“What was that?”  Baekhyun asks in a hiss so that Minseok cannot hear them.  Jongdae turns to him and looks thoroughly confused at his best friend’s angered reaction.

“What was what?”  Jongdae asks, thoroughly confused.  “I think everything is going great.  I didn’t expect this going so well actually.”

“What?”  Baekhyun asks, astounded by his best friend’s reaction.  “He thinks we’ve been dating for years!”

“It’s just a white lie,” Jongdae defends with no worries what so ever.  He’s calm and Baekhyun for the life of him, cannot understand why.  Baekhyun’s feels his jaw unlatching from his face.  “It’s not a big deal, I don’t think.”

“How is lying going to make this situation any better?”  Baekhyun asks because he feels like he is about to explode and then there is Jongdae, calmer than a yoga class at the break of dawn.

“Easily?”  Jongdae says, still confused by his best friend’s reaction.  “He seems pretty interested.”

“How are we going to choose one of us if we are together?”  Baekhyun ask, frustration coming out with each word.  What he doesn’t expect is Jongdae’s reaction.  He looks shocked at Baekhyun’s words and _flustered_.  He has never seen Jongdae flustered before.

“Oh, _oh_ ,” Jongdae says as he hits some sort of realization and Baekhyun thinks that he has finally gotten through to the other.  His ears are turning red and so are his cheeks in embarrassment. 

He continues.  “I thought, uh,” he stutters (when did Jongdae ever stutter) while having one of his hands reach up to twirl his hair (something he only does when he is nervous), “I thought we were doing this together.  Wasn’t that what we talked about.”

What…

_What?_

“I-” Baekhyun says, speechless.

“I brought drinks!”  Minseok says as he comes back to the table and puts down the three glasses on the table.  He looks at both a flustered Jongdae and a confused Baekhyun, but he seems to power on anyways.  “Did I interrupt something?”

“Nope!”  Baekhyun says as he turns to Minseok as a smile.  He aims to change the topic so fast from where that conversation is headed that Baekhyun couldn’t even all it an avoidance strategy and call it an absolutely-nope strategy instead.  If that meant lying, then that meant lying.  Anything to get rid of this awkward conversation.  “I just won a bet about how our friend’s Tinder date was tonight.”

Jongdae laughs, strained but unnoticeable to anyone who didn’t know him.  Instead, the two of them pretended things were going well and had one more drink before calling it a night.  Hopefully, Minseok wouldn’t notice and at the end of the outing, when he bid the two of them good night, he looked content and deceived by their well-placed smiles.

Baekhyun and Jongdae were drunk.  They hadn’t gone into the bar thinking that they would be so, but their small conversation had made it a bit necessary in order to forget everything and act like everything was fine.  So, instead of taking Baekhyun’s car home, they had the bartender call a taxi and waited.  The wait for the taxi outside in the cold was almost unbearable, until they got into the cold taxi.  The silence was eating Baekhyun alive and leaving him alone with his own thoughts, a dangerous place to be at the moment.

The two mechanically got out of the taxi, paid the taxi driver and made it up to their apartment.  Jongdae had grabbed Baekhyun’s arm immediately as they went through the door so that he couldn’t go anywhere else but the couch, presumably so that they could talk.  It scared Baekhyun that Jongdae was being this way, but he couldn’t blame the other either.  They sit down on the opposite sides of the couch.  It’s not a large couch, but there is a space that is not filled between them and Baekhyun doesn’t remember the last time that space was empty.

He felt uncomfortable and confused and he realized Jongdae must be feeling something similar, he had his curled up with his arms around them.  His face was hard and he was just staring at his knees.  Baekhyun knew that he was not going to start this conversation, so he waited for his best friend to do it for him.

“It was that first night where we watched all of those videos,” Jongdae says.  His tone makes Baekhyun look straight at him.  He looks hurt and there was an edge to it, of what sounds like disappointment, but the blonde couldn’t really identify it. 

“I thought things had changed between us when we kind of admitted to each other that we both like Minseok in our own roundabout ways.  The way we had spoke about it, I thought it was an unspoken thing that we were both going to get to know him.  Then, there was the whole earing thing!  I know it was kind of a shit metaphor, but you had agreed! I thought you understood and now I don’t really know because looking back at it, I realize that it was kind of stupid.”

Jongdae was speaking fast and Baekhyun was worried that the other was going to cry, but there didn’t seem to be tears welling up which Baekhyun was glad for.  He didn’t want to be the reason that his best friend cried. “And when I talked to Minseok or when you did, you seemed to genuinely happy that we were talking.  Just how I was genuinely happy that you two were talking.  I didn’t feel any competition between us because it wasn’t a competition to me.”

Baekhyun wasn’t about to stop the brunette, but Jongdae looks up to him with an almost accusing tone.  “And _you_ changed.  You kept touching me more and going along with everything.  I know we’ve always been a bit much for best friends, but some of those touches were much more than ‘just friends’ territory.  Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I touched you?”  Baekhyun asked, incredulously, because if he could not blame one of those misunderstanding on Jongdae he could blame that last one.  And right now, he needed to blame someone else for something.  He was so confused and didn’t have time to think about the rest of Jongdae’s confession, so he went for the lowest hanging fruit.  “ _You_ were the one that was touching me all the time!  I thought you were nervous like when you liked Jia.  You got all touchy when she came into the picture, I thought the same thing now applied to Minseok.  I was trying to comfort you.”

“I was nervous, but – ugh!” Jongdae exclaims in embarrassment as he tries to hide his face into his raised legs and hands.  “I was nervous about Minseok and _you_.  I thought a few touches might make it easier to transition into something… more.”

“Like sharing the earrings?”  Baekhyun asks because he now realizes that Jongdae had basically asked if the two of them wanted to be a permanent threesome with Minseok and the blonde did not know how to process that information. It was opening his dark recesses door where he had put that thought about that threesome a while back and oh he didn’t think he would need that for his conversation because his best friend agreed to be in a sexual relationship with him (along with a really hot, amazing guy).

“I didn’t realize that was what you were talking about,” Baekhyun admits.  “I thought you were drunk, you slurred a bit.”

“I wasn’t,” Jongdae says as he goes back to staring at his knees, a definite frown on his face.  His marred his features.  “I’m curious then why you were so eager for me to talk to Minseok if you thought only one of us stood a chance.  You liked him before I did, don’t deny it.  I think you liked him even more than I did at first.  Why didn’t you try harder to get him?”

Because they were being honest right now, Baekhyun decides to tell the truth.  His mind still has a bit of alcohol so he still feels the loose lips coming out.  Still, this was something he didn’t want to admit to anyone, least of all his best friend.  He can’t look at Jongdae for this revelation, so he stares at the blank wall where the projected screen should be instead.  His throat feels dry.  “I thought the two of you would be better together and me being with him.”

“Why?”  He hears Jongdae ask immediately, like it was the stupidest thing he had ever heard.

“You’re a great guy and your personalities really matched,” Baekhyun gives a quick explanation because he couldn’t embarrass himself further.  He could write a book about why he thought Jongdae is better.  “I’m too loud and obnoxious.”

“So, you decided to give up?”  Jongdae asked, a bit of anger seeping into his voice.

This caused Baekhyun’s anger to flare up a bit.  “No, I just told myself that it would be better if he chose you and was trying to get over him.”

“You’re an idiot,” the brunette says.  “You don’t just give someone up like that just because you _think_ they may make a better couple.”

“Well it’s what I thought,” the blonde says, putting his hands in the air in defeat.  “I thought he was better for you so I thought that I could help you wingman by talking to him, but that kind of got in the way of the whole trying to get over him thing.”

Jongdae frowns harder and is glaring at his best friend when Baekhyun looks at him.  He wishes that he hadn’t.  “Your angry.”

“I liked him for months before you met him,” Baekhyun tells him.  “It was hard all of a sudden being both your wingman and your rival at the same time.  It made me feel weird because I didn’t feel it was a rivalry either and it ate me up that he could choose either of us and I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

“You didn’t want to hurt me?”  Jongdae asks carefully, as if he is sounding out foreign words for the first time, trying to understand their meaning.  It leads him to looking at the empty space of the couch between them.  “Does that mean you care for me?”  His voice is softer than Baekhyun has ever heard it.  “Would you be willing to….”

_Yes_ , Baekhyun almost says before he remembers what is happening and needs to think clearly before giving an answer.  

He thinks that he wants to be with Minseok and Jongdae.  It makes the feelings that he has been feeling these past few weeks finally make since.  He had never been jealous of Minseok and Jongdae, except that he realizes that he was mad at them being together and not him included.  He obviously likes Minseok romantically and it wouldn’t be the first time he thought of Jongdae that way either.  In fact, he had only not said anything because they were best friends.

But the fact that Jongdae thought of him like that was something he almost couldn’t process.  Their feelings being mutual was something that he hadn’t expected.  They were best friends, if Baekhyun rejected him would they still be best friends.  If they got together and something happened, would they still be best friends.  Baekhyun knew that he would never want to end this relationship that they had.

His best friend is not looking at him, but Baekhyun needs to explain why he can’t answer that question without someone getting hurt.  “I don’t want to lose what we have now.”

“You think I haven’t thought of that?”  the brunette asks still staring at the couch, refusing to lift his head.  “There are few things that I think would damage our friendship and I don’t think you are capable of doing that to me.  Now that I know that you put your own happiness aside for me makes me sure of that.”

“You’d still be here if we broke up.”

“I’d still be here.”

Assured, Baekhyun leans back into the couch.  “I’ve thought about being with you before.”

“With Minseok?” Jongdae asks.

“Yes,” the blonde admits, his face heating up a bit at his honesty.  “but also before Minseok.”

“Oh,” Jongdae says, obviously shocked.  Baekhyun’s eyes are unmoving from the wall in front of him, but he can feel Jongdae shift from his position and move closer to him.  Face red with embarrassment, Baekhyun tries to act calm, but his heart is beating loudly as he waits for Jongdae to do whatever he has his mind set on doing.  The anticipation rings in his ear as he feels his best friend sitting next to him on the couch, eyes boring holes into his face.  There is a hand on his thigh and it feels cold.

Jongdae doesn’t say a word, just maneuver his other hand to lay on the back of Baekhyun’s head and slightly turn it so that he can slot their lips together in a chaste kiss.  It’s just a small peck, barely there, but Baekhyun relaxes into it immediately. It feels right.  It feels right to do this with Jongdae.  He pulls back.

Leaning back against the couch, so that he can give himself some space to move, he turns his body so that he is properly facing the florist and not at the awkward angle that they were at.  Grabbing the front of Jongdae’s shirt, he pulls him down so that they can kiss again.  It’s more heated this time, open mouths and tongue.  Jongdae really does have cock sucking lips, smooth and gorgeous and malleable.

It only takes a minute before Baekhyun feels the ache of this position as well, Jongdae leaning sideways into him and him leaning sideways into the other.  Pulling away again, hand still on Jongdae’s shirt and other on the back of Jongdae’s thigh, he leans against the arm of the couch and pulls Jongdae down on top of him so that the other is hovering over him, almost straddling him before going back to reclaim his lips.

Jongdae melts into the kiss which is a bit problematic as his whole body gives a shake of relief which crosses along Baekhyun’s pants and makes him buck a bit upwards to chase the friction.  This was a wrong move.  The brunette immediately throws himself back away from the kiss.

“Is something wrong?” Baekhyun asks.  He feels like he is on cloud nine except for the straining in his pants.  He feels like a child from getting so hard so fast but he hasn’t done this in a while.   His best friend on the other hand is moving himself from his position of straddling Baekhyun to laying on his side beside the other.  There isn’t a lot of room on the couch, forcing Baekhyun to turn as well.

Jongdae wraps an arm around Baekhyun and their faces are close when he speaks.  He sounds a bit strained and Baekhyun did not think he would find a voice like Jongdae’s to ever be strained, but hell if it wasn’t hot.  “We haven’t even gone on a date yet.”

Baekhyun has to almost pull himself away to laugh as loudly as he does.  The brunette still holds him tight, but the blonde feels himself curling into himself.  “We’ve been dating, according to you might I add, for weeks.”

“But you didn’t!  We have to take it slow,” Jongdae explains.  In response, Baekhyun buries himself into Jongdae’s chest, muffling his laughter.  He feels happy, happier than he has been in quite some time.

A week later, on a cold December morning, has Baekhyun putting his phone in his pocket after texting Minseok.  His hand goes to dangle at his side but, Jongdae takes the opportunity to intertwine their fingers as they wait outside Minseok’s shop.  Feelings of comfort and an underlying sense of joy fills Baekhyun.  It is such a small action, a familiar one even, but Baekhyun relishes it.  They both need the comfort right now, as nerves are getting to them both.

Should have taken two shots instead of one before leaving the house.

Jongdae gives his hand a small squeeze as the door opens and Minseok’s smiling face greets them and ushers them inside.  They bypass the room where Minseok usually hosts guests and head straight to the kitchen.  Baekhyun and Jongdae may be customers right now, but they don’t need the frill.

“Are we not fancying enough for the testing room?”  Baekhyun asks, poking a little fun at the baker and getting a beautiful grin in response.

“No, not today,” Minseok says as he has them sit on stools pulled up to the counter in the kitchen.  “One of the other bakers is hosting a birthday party.  We’ll be back here if you don’t mind.”

“It’s fine with us,” Jongdae says as Minseok faces them from the other side of the counter.  As Baekhyun mind focuses on the tray of cupcakes Minseok is holding, he finds a hand placed on his knee and realizes that the baker can’t see it from where he is currently standing.

“Where’s Sehun?”  Jongdae asks casually.

“I sent him out on an errand to get some Prussian blue foil for an order of mine,” the baker says, putting the tray of desserts in front of them.  They smell divine and Baekhyun knows it is rude to eat them before being told about them, but he hasn’t eaten today and he is feeling greedy.  “Do you have any idea of what you want for your birthday party?  I’ve made some special samples for you since you wanted something unique.”

“We do,” Jongdae says, smiling up at the baker.  Minseok smiles back before pushing the tray of sweets towards the best friends.  Both are hit with flavors that make their mouths water.  Baekhyun takes one to try, mint filling all of his senses before his throat tingles with the smallest hint of cayenne.  It’s not uncomfortably hot and he smiles into the delicious confection   Vaguely he hears Jongdae and Minseok talking in the background but he gives them no notice and he relishes in the sugar. 

When he is finished, he looks up to the other two looking at him.  Minseok has is holding in a smile behind his hand, but Jongdae looks like he’s two seconds from bursting.  He sighs as he understands.  “How much?”

“It’s all over your left cheek,” Jongdae says as he points to the glob of icing.  He leans forward and takes his thumb and wiping it off Baekhyun’s cheek before bringing it to his lips so that he can taste.  It’s _intimate_ , leaving Baekhyun a bit breathless at the cliché move.  It’s nothing to how he feels as Jongdae makes a popping sound after licking his finger.  That’s hot.

Baekhyun tries to gauge the baker’s reaction.  He can’t at all, because Minseok has turned away from Jongdae to pick up to more desserts and gives them to the two friends.  His blinks slowly and Baekhyun is entranced with how beautiful his eyes are.  “More unique or less?”

“More,” Baekhyun answers immediately.  The hand on his thigh tightens it’s hold.  He gets a blinding smile as a response before shoving to more cupcakes at him.  Eager and a bit embarrassed, Baekhyun almost shoves the entire cupcake into his mouth in excitement.  It’s a buttered rum cupcake and it is divine.  He can feel the burn of the alcohol all the way down his throat.

He can feel the tension from Jongdae’s hand radiating towards his spine and crawl up into his shoulders.  He knows they came here with a mission, but right now he is feeling the pressure and he hasn’t felt this nervous in front of _anyone_ before.  Therefore, the only logical thing to do would be to occupy himself with decadent desserts.

“Is this because Baek ordered rum at the bar?”  Jongdae asks the baker.

“I got inspired,” the baker says as he shrugs his shoulders.  Baekhyun’s head spins. 

“I don’t know how,” Jongdae says, “it’s just Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun shoves him playfully and the warm hand on this thigh is replaced with a burning cold sensation as he is shoved back.  He’s about to do it again, because Jongdae has yet again insulted him in front of Minseok, but instead of leaning back, Jongdae moves forward and he is being pulled in for a small kiss.

It’s chaste and it quick, barely there, but Baekhyun’s heart pounds.  Not only due to Jongdae himself and their new relationship but also for the kiss being the first in the public eye.  If Minseok can be considered the public eye.  Head feeling clouded and trying not to breathe heavily, Jongdae pulls back.

Minseok’s lips fall apart slowly before recovering into a smile and tilting his head.  “Did you like that one?”

Jongdae relaxes back into his chair.  “It’s good.”

If Minseok is not going to acknowledge anything, then Baekhyun is going to try and ignore the crazy churn of his stomach.  Baekhyun leans his elbows on the counter as he smiles.  “I love rum.” 

Minseok laughs as he picks two more deserts from the tray.  “More alcohol then.”

“Is your goal to get us drunk?”  Jongdae asks, eyebrow raised.

“Customers buy more when they’re intoxicated.”

Baekhyun laughs as he reaches for the light brown dessert.  Cinnamon fills his nostrils.  “Fine by us as long as you drive us home later.”

“I would but I don’t think it’ll come to that,” Minseok says.  There’s a small smile on his lips and Baekhyun’s insides shake.  Is Minseok, amazing and famous Minseok, flirting with them?

“I don’t know,” Jongdae says sarcastically, “Baekhyun is a light weight and if you keep serving these he might surprise you.”  With that comment, Baekhyun digs into the hard cider cupcake with baked apple filling.  It’s warm and he feels it in his stomach.  His best friend, _boyfriend_ , was joking, but the alcohol is coming through loud and clear.

“It’s good,” Jongdae comments.  “Sweet.”

Baekhyun leans forwards onto the counter, closer to Minseok, feeling himself turn to goo from the fabulous flavors. 

The baker looks down at him.  “Too sweet?”

“Not as much as you,” Baekhyun says, words falling from his mouth before he took a second to think about them.

His next words die in his throat.

When his mind catches up and his heart pounds and his muscles ache, he finds himself looking up at the baker with wide eyes and finds the baker smiling fondly down at him.  “Am I now?”

The teasing tone goes straight to Baekhyun’s heart and he is sure his face is heating up.  “Yeah.”

Before he knows it, hands are on the side of his face and pulling him upwards so that lips can meet.  Lush, full lip that taste just as sweet as Baekhyun had imagined since he first met the baker. 

It’s fleeting and Baekhyun couldn’t tell you how long the kiss was except that it was too short.  Before he can properly respond, he is pulling back and sitting upright, putting distance between him and the baker.  His mind is fuzzy and he can’t think.

Minseok doesn’t look shocked or anything, just waiting.  Being patient.  Jongdae is leaning back with a smug smile on his lips.  Minseok cocks his head a bit to the left.  “Sweet enough for you?”

Baekhyun is at a lost for words.  He doesn’t remember the last time he has felt so lost.  Thankfully, Jongdae is never one to be that slow on the upkeep during awkard silences.  “I think he’s crashing.  Must be addictive.”

“Yeah?” Minseok asks Jongdae, one brow artfully raised.

“Yeah,” Jongdae says as he leans across the counter to kiss the baker as well.  Something swells in Baekhyun akin to elation at the sight.  It isn’t chaste like Baekhyun’s but has the advantage of Jongdae being prepared.  It’s still short, but nothing short of steamy.  They pull apart.

They sit in silence for a second before Minseok speaks up.  “Are we going to get out of here like you two came here to do or sit around staring at each other?”

“Came here to do?” Baekhyun asks, confused, mind still working a mile a minute to keep up.

“It’s December,” Minseok starts, a grin appears on his face.

“I don’t-”

“During our first conversation, Jongdae told me his birthday was in September.”

“Um,” Jongdae says trying to come up with an excuse on the fly while sporting a red face.

Tension eases out of Baekhyun as he laughs at the ridiculousness of everything.  Who knew that the shy man on camera would ever be this forward?  Baekhyun is not complaining.  “Does it matter?”

“No,” the baker says, putting the remaining desserts in a box and sealing it up tight.  He walks around the counter so that they can leave, taking the box with him. 

If this means that Baekhyun can get more sugary sweetness later than Minseok really is perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


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